


You're It

by thewightknight



Series: Redemption Is Not a Dirty Word [5]
Category: Aquaman (2018), DC Extended Universe
Genre: Gen, Getting to Know Each Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 07:14:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17524220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewightknight/pseuds/thewightknight
Summary: Arthur spends some time getting to know his future sister-in-law.





	You're It

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for the love for this series!

“They don’t need us this morning,” Arthur told Scales as soon as she entered the conference chamber where they’d been meeting with her entourage. “They’ll be hashing out all the arrangements and dates and stuff. C’mon.”

He swam to the door and looked back at her. When she hesitated, one of her advisors nodded. 

“He’s right, you know. You could go with him. We will call for you both if needed.”

Suspicious as to all of their motives, she still acquiesced, following the Atlantean king as he wended his way through the corridors. 

To her surprise, they ended up at the docks. She and Arthur took one ship and their guards followed as they made their way through the portal into the outer ocean.

“Where are we going?” she asked, curiosity finally overcoming her suspicion.

“I have a visit to make and I wanted to introduce you. Two birds with one stone.”

Scales frowned, trying to make out the metaphor. Arthur noticed her difficulty.

“That means taking care of two things at once,” he explained. She still couldn’t wrap her brain around the metaphor. It was definitely a human thing.

They hadn’t gone far when the floor of the ocean rose before them. Her guards’ excited comments cut through their comms but Arthur’s remained unperturbed.

“It’s all right. Stand down,” Arthur commanded as he pushed up out of his seat. The mass resolved itself into waving claws and bright eyes that tracked Arthur’s movements as he swam towards it. Arthur came to a stop a few feet from its head and hung in the water. He spoke to the creature but Scales couldn’t make out the words. It made no move to attack, its attention focused on Arthur. Her curiosity flared again and she also left the ship, swimming towards the two. 

“There you are! Karathen, this Scales, princess of the Fishermen and my future sister-in-law.”

“It speaks?” she asked as she neared.

“She does. She says hello.” One of the giant claws made a motion approximating a wave, and she bobbed her head in response, fascinated.

“Do you come out here often to talk?” she asked, itching with an urge to get closer.

“Not often enough. But she doesn’t stay here all the time, either. There’s a whole ocean out there, after all.”

Karathen’s head bobbed and Arthur’s tilted as he listened to the words only he could hear. 

“What’s she saying?”

“I introduced her to a game a few weeks ago, and she’s asking if we can play.”

“What’s the game?”

“It’s called tag.” 

“How do you play?”

“Well, you come up to someone and you touch them, like this.” Arthur tapped her on the shoulder and said, “You’re it.”

“Now what?”

Arthur grinned, a mischievous look that tugged at the spark within her. “Now you have to tag someone else!” And with that he shot off, leaving her treading water in shock.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she muttered, taking off after the golden streak.

What followed was the most fun Scales had ever had in her life. Karathen proved surprisingly nimble for her large size and almost as hard to tag as Arthur was. The bubbles from their exertions turned the normally clear water into a froth, adding decreased visibility into the mix. She laughed as she dove between questing claws. Twisting as she swam to check all angles, she still nearly missed Arthur’s approach, dodging him at the last instant.

It went on until they were both breathless, and by unspoken agreement they drifted to the ocean floor. She flopped down with a lack of grace that would make her tutors despair. Clouds of sand puffed up around them, then settled, coating them both. When the water cleared, Karathen floated above them, arms undulating in giant waves.

“She’s saying goodbye,” Arthur supplied.

“Goodbye to you as well! And thank you!”

With nary a wave to mark her passing Karathen slipped away. When her giant form had disappeared into the waters, and Scales’ pulse had settled and her breathing slowed, she asked “Is this something you do on a regular basis?”

“No, unfortunately. There’s so much to do. But you gotta take some time for yourself or you’ll go mad.”

“Like your brother?” Dammit. She should not have said that.

“Yeah, he’s a bit lacking in the fun department. But we can work on that.”

Fun. With the man who’d murdered her father. All the joy drained out of her. It must have showed, because Arthur rolled over on his side, watching her. She forced her face into a semblance of calm, but he wasn’t fooled.

“I’ve advised my people to ask for a long engagement. And if things fall through, for whatever reason, I’ll make sure there aren’t any repercussions.”

“Do you think he’ll back out, then?” she asked, a challenge in her voice.

“No, I don’t. I don’t think you will either. Stubbornness runs in the blood of the sea, my mother says.”

He took a deep breath, steeling himself for something. His next words made it clear.

“You know, Orm isn’t the only marriage prospect in our kingdom.”

“No,” she said instantly, while at the same time shoving down the little part of her that whispered to, of what a better match he would be. “Xebel has the first claim on you, and you’re fortunate in that. I’ve seen the way that you and Mera look at each other.”

“Xebel? Claim? What?”

“Well, yes. Mera is promised to the king of Atlantis, after all. Just because there’s a different king now makes no difference.” She took no small amount of pleasure at the look on his face that her words her words had caused. His appearance was not dissimilar at that moment to the fish that swam around him at that moment.

“Maybe we can wrangle a long engagement too,” Arthur said at last.

“Why? Is the thought of marriage Mera so distasteful to you?” she asked, curious. The two had seemed so fond of each other.

“No, it’s just,” Arthur trailed off.

“Just?” Scales prompted.

“Well, it’s nice to be friends for a bit first.”

“Friends?” She laughed, and it sounded bitter to her ears.

“Well, yeah.”

“Why do you care?”

“You know, I kinda like you, Scales, princess of the Fishermen. And my brother has his moments when he’s not a complete asshole.”

“He flooded your home. He sent people to kill you. He tried to kill you himself. And yet you still speak of him with fondness?” Her voice rose as she spoke, nearly squeaking at the last.

“There’s a saying above the water. ‘He may be an asshole, but he’s our asshole.’”

She stared at him, astonished at his words, for a few moments, then broke out into laughter.

“I kind of like you too, Arthur, King of Atlantis,” she said when her giggles subsided.

“Solidarity,” Arthur agreed, and held his hand out, fingers clenched into a fist. 

She stared at it, unsure of what he meant for her to do. 

“Fist bump!” he prompted. 

Slowly, she made a fist of her own, and Arthur gently pressed his fist to hers.

“See?” he said. “Fist bump.”

“You are very strange.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

As they made their way back to the city, she sat in silence, her thoughts in a whirl. Being with Arthur felt comfortable, and for the first time she found herself musing on what it would have been like, to have siblings. She did like Arthur, and Mera, and Vulko, but especially Arthur. It almost made her feel guilty about planning to make Orm’s life miserable for the rest of his years.

Almost.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you want to say hi, [check out my profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewightknight/profile) for where I’m currently hanging out on this here internet thing.


End file.
